Home Education FAQ’s

Register with the Home Education Unit (HEU) 

• Check our our Registration Page  
• link to HEU Registration 

Via one of the many Qld Distance Education (DE) schools 

• Click here for the Distance Education FAQ

Home education

• You provide education to your child at home.
• You can also engage a registered teacher to deliver the home education program.
• Either you or a registered teacher will plan, deliver, monitor your child’s learning from one year to the next.
• As the registered parent, you will need to provide an annual report on your child’s educational progress.

Distance education

• You enrol your child at a school of distance education and the school provides their educational program.
• Your child’s teacher will monitor their learning and report on their educational progress.
• You supervise your child at home, but you are not responsible for delivering their educational program.

Please refer to the HEU webpage for latest updates and official requirements.

• Email:  homeeducation@qed.qld.gov.au.
• Address: PO Box 3710 South Brisbane BC QLD 4001
• Phone: (07) 3513 6755 or 1800 677 176
• Do add their 4 emails to your contact list: 
  • homeeducation@qed.qld.gov.au
  • HomeEducationApplications@qed.qld.gov.au
  • HomeEducation.OFFICENSS@qed.qld.gov.au
  • homeeducationreporting@qed.qld.gov.au

• The parent/legal guardian can home educate. 
• You provide all the planning, resourcing and assessment. You can hire tutors, paperwork writers, curriculum providers, attend classes, co-ops etc but the registering person must legally educate for the majority of the time.
• You can also hire a registered teacher to home educate your own children, their details need to be included in the application process.

• Paper work in the form of a yearly Plan and Report 
  • Initially a 1-year Plan with your application. See our Registration FAQ 
  • Then a Report (and new Plan) due 10 months each year, from your application/registration date. Eg You apply online on the 11th Feb then your Report and new Plan will be due 11th December every year. See our Reporting FAQ
• The time to provide the academic support and social engagement they need.

• Doctors Certificate - request time off from school while you decide what to do, due to child's medical and mental health needs. 
• School Exemption - if you are enrolled in a school you can try for an Exemption from your school - https://ppr.qed.qld.gov.au/.../exemptions-from-compulsory…
• 60 Days Only Registration - temporary short term option - Find the form here Here
• Apply online and provide a Plan within 4-6 weeks. HEU will send a letter/email requesting the outstanding paperwork/Plan and give you another few weeks to get it in. - See our Registration FAQ for more Info

• 60 Days Provisional Only Registration - Find the form Here

Or Apply and skip over the Plan upload, as you can provide that within 4-6 weeks. 

• Anywhere from 24 hours to 5 working days for emails. 
• 5-10 working days for new applications received, full approval 2-6 weeks. 
• Report time - 2 days- 4 months is normal.

• No, no-one has all the knowledge immediately. The great thing about Home Education is that you can learn alongside your child. 
• It is a learning journey together. You learn what they need and adjust as they grow. 
• You can outsource anything you aren't confident with. 
• You can learn what you missed in school and more.

• No, you can’t do part time with registration with the HEU. 
• You can however do Distance Education and school enrolment, and you can negotiate with your school for reduced hours.

• Many opportunities exist for you and your children to connect in the community. Join your local group and then commit to attending some meet ups regularly, to enable those relationships to form. 
• Make your own meet-ups in your area to find friends too. 
• It does take more commitment and prioritising meet-ups to establish those friendships but it is very worthwhile. 
• You still have access to old school friends, after school activities, sports, online, scouts and more too. 

• You are the principal and teacher in your home. You decide how that will look and if you want them tested like a school. 
• Generally home education parents know what their children understand and support them in the moment, to learn more or step back to fill gaps. 
• Tests at school are so a teacher can tell the parents what the child knows, as that's the way they can track all the children's’ progress. 
• There are plenty of online tests to check/confirm, too. click Resources link (to come)
• You can choose to sit NAPLAN, HEU send an email to opt in.

• If you want them to learn what they do in school, then choose ACARA aligned resources. 
• You can also check against ACARA here:
• For HEU registration it's all about “high quality learning” and that looks different for every child and their needs and their abilities. 
• You can educate your child, at their level and needs, and move forward in leaps and bounds, when they are ready. 
• You do not need to do the same as school or follow/refer to grade levels.

• There's no fee to register your child for home education.
• You don't have to buy anything to be approved and to home educate. 
• There are heaps of quality options for free see Resource lists (to come).
• DE schools vary in their prices - medical enrolment has a fee waiver for State DE schools. See our Distance Ed FAQ for more!

• We have lots listed here to help you get started https://homeeducationqld.org/resources/
• Library, op-shops, buy sell Facebook groups, use search engine for finding Unit Studies on every topic you can think of.

• Yes, a new Plan is required along with the Report by the 10th month from your registration.
• You can edit your first Plan and adjust as needed. 
  • HEU want to see updated goals, and new ideas in Learning Areas.

• As much or as little as you need. 
• There is no requirement in Qld to follow any particular curriculum, so you get to decide whats best for your child. 
• You can use curriculum from other countries, incorporate different styles, and include life skills.

• It is a legal requirement for all children between 6.5 and 17 years to be registered (or enrolled in a school) and provides access to:
  • support from HEU,
  • photo student id HERE
  • school based apprenticeships,
  • TAFE at school courses
  • school dental vans
  • regional school- sporting competitions more details here (to come)
  • participating in NAPLAN
  • it can enable continuation of Centrelink payments and eligibility for activity exemptions. see our finance FAQ

• All children are placed in grades based on their DOB unless you advocate for something different (they are limited within 1 grade higher or lower).
• Private schools may ask for testing or proof of knowledge for grade placement.
• Returning them to school is always an option, and then they are placed at age level, not their knowledge level. 
• You can help them be at peer level through using school textbooks if returning them to school.

• There is no Year 10 Certificate in schools or when registered with HEU. 
• You can create your own, and choose to celebrate in your own way.

• Not directly with HEU alone.
• You can with a DE school. 
• You can via other means like QCAA click here

• To be eligible for a QCE, a child needs to accrue at least one credit of learning while enrolled at a Queensland school.
• Home education does not accrue credits towards the QCE.
• A Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) is a awarded to young people usually at the end of Year 12. Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA)

• Yes, there are many pathways to tertiary learning.  
• You can access TAFE, Open Uni online, Tertiary Prep courses, Head Start courses, mature age entry and more. 
• Investigate the University and course and the prerequisites, and phone them and ask for alternative pathways. 
• Many use TAFE and open uni online to meet prerequisites.  

• You get to start home educating. The way you choose to do that is up to you. 
• You set your own time-table.
• Many families need some time to deschool and establish new ways forward. 
• Learn about education and home learning.